Crossing between Worlds
by Colette Hyuga
Summary: Minato never died sealing the Kyuubi and he left to a place he never realized existed before- Earth. 12 years later, Kakashi is sent to bring them back. However the Akatsuki is also looking for Naruto. Instead of capturing him, Akatsuki captures Sakura, Naruto's best friend in Earth. Sakura and Naruto are main characters, I'll try to make them show up equally. Saku/Akat, Saku ooc.
1. Chapter 1

**Summary:**

**Minato never died sealing the Kyuubi and he left with Naruto to a place he'd never realized existed before- Earth. 12 years later, Kakashi is sent to bring them back. However, the Akatsuki is also looking for Naruto. Akatsuki misses Naruto but instead captures Sakura, Naruto's best friend on Earth. Naruto will have to try harder to become Hokage, and Sakura must keep her sanity among the Akatsuki. Will they be able to survive in the ninja world?**

**hm, this is my first fanfiction so the charaters might be ooc. Well, Sakura will be ooc, but I'll try to make others true to manga- well, I'll try.**

**please read and review!**

**thanx!**

* * *

Screaming, blood, and fire; the world seemed to be painted in red on this night. The Kyuubi was in a rage, and malevolent, evil red chakra swirled around it in arcs, threatening everybody; shinobi and civillans in Konoha alike. It was his duty as the Hokage to put an end to this. However, that wasn't the first thing on his mind.

Minato dashed to his wife Kushina.

She was there, with dark circles under her eyes looking completely wasted. It hurt him to see her like that, and almost stopped himself from telling Kushina what he'd do- but as he'd promised her before- there was no secrets.

"Kushina, I have to seal the Kyuubi, this time with a stronger seal, The Dead Demon Consuming Seal. You won't be able to hold th Kyuubi again, not in this state... I'll have to seal it in our son." stated Minato grimly. It was unseen but a tear made it's way down his face.

"Minato!" protested Kushina, but seeing that there was no other choice, Kushina made a quick decision. "Let me do this Minato."

Minato looked utterly shocked as he stuttered, "Kushina, I- I can't let you do this.. You'll die."

Kushina met him straight in the eye then calmly stated,"I'll die anyways. I'm already this bad off."

Minato was forced to agree with her.

She emphasized her choice, "I can do this."

She took a deep breath and continued, "Naruto needs at least one of his parents to survive. I will **not **make my son into an orphan."

Minato gazed at his wife, and touched her gently on her cheek.

"I love you."

Kushina gave him a big, foxy smile. "Me too."

* * *

The battle seemed to happen in slow motion. Everything had slowed down. Minato fought the masked man and held the Kyuubi back as Kushina began the seals for the The Dead Demon Consuming Seal. Minato only focused on the task in front of him, and blocked other emotions from surfacing.

A part of him wanted to stop Kushina from making the seal by doing anything- throwing a kunai, or himself at her so she wouldn't complete the seals and die. He'd do anything, but he denied that part of himself. Right now, he couldn't be Minato, Kushina's husband. Instead he had to be Hokage of the Hidden Leaf Village. For now, he could not be both at the same time. He had made an oath to his village.

Kushina completed the last seals the same time Minato managed to drive the masked man away from the village. The kyuubi gave an unearthly wail as it was chained once again. Minato watched the Kyuubi being sucked inside his child, spitting curses all the while. He saw his wife getting paler and paler, slowly being drained of life...

After the jutsu was completed and Kyuubi was safely sealed inside Naruto, Kushina lost balance and fell into Minato's arms. A small smile spread onto her face.

"Minato," croaked Kushina. "Let me see Naruto." Minato picked their child up and brought him close to her.

"Naruto" whispered Kushina. "I love you. Be happy. My child." She gazed into Minato's eyes. Smiling gently, she whispered, "Our child."

Her eyes fluttered close, and her heartbeat stopped. Death took her. A moment pasted before everyone realized the beast was gone.

The village was saved, but his wife was dead.

Minato broke into heart-wrenching sobs as he caressed the corpse of his loving wife. She was.. dead. This wasn't supposed to happen. She wasn't supposed to die. Kushina couldn't be... gone. No! She- A piercing wail penetrated his frantic thoughts. Naruto.

His son was alive.

* * *

**_twelve years later_**

It is time," Sarutobi thought as he fixed his gaze on the Hokage Mountain- specifically, the monument of The Fourth Hokage, the Yellow Flash. Really- it was time to bring him and his son, Naruto, back to the village of the hidden leaves.

'Where they belong,' he decided firmly.

He had allowed- more like forced- Minato to leave Konoha after Kushina's death and the sealing of Kyuubi. It had been too dangerous to stay back then. Minato had seen and fought with the masked man controlling Kyuubi, who had caused the destruction of half the village.

The village was unsteady due to that, and Sarutobi couldn't guarantee Naruto's safety. Not when he'd failed Kushina last time. And he had reassured both of them that it would be very safe too. Now, he wasn't certain that he could prevent the masked man- or any other strong ninja- from taking the Kyuubi away from Konoha if something like last time happened again.

If Konoha lost its own biju, she would have been portrayed weak to the other villages, which wouldn't do at all. Also, he had wanted Minato to be happier. Really, even if Minato never showed it, he could tell that he was breaking inside. Minato needed to get away and spend his time taking care of his son, Naruto. So, he had convinced Minato to leave the village and disappear for a while.

But now it was time. He was getting old and he needed to retire.

The village was secure enough now, and anyways, Naruto had to start his training now if he was to be a ninja. The tragedy had happened twelve years ago after all. The boy must be twelve now too. 'A bit too old to start training, but that can't be helped.'

Now, to call Minato again... He knew he had to choose someone trustworthy, someone who could keep secrets...

'Well, what kind of proper ninja wouldn't be able to keep secrets?' He chuckled softly.

"Ahh..."Obviously, it would also have to be someone who Minato trusted as well...

Yes, of course! Who else would be perfect for this job?

"Call in Kakashi," ordered Sarutobi to the Anbu nearest to him.

* * *

**I decided since Uzumaki clan specialized in Fūinjutsu, Kushina would be able to perform the seal Minato used to seal the Kyuubi. So, Instead of both of them dying, only Kushina died. Poor Minato and Naruto. But still, they have each other.**

**Next up, Kakashi and Akatsuki will get their missions, respectively.**

**thank you for reading and please review!**

**Beta~ great chapter mi'lady truly gorgeous. **


	2. Chapter 2

**Well, thank you everyone for your reviews! It was awesome! This is my first fanfiction and really, I'm still very nervous about the whole thing... Anyways, thank you so much! So, enjoy!**

Kakashi was having an enjoyable day reading his favorite novel- until one unwanted Anbu came along, that is. The Anbu was just standing there, an if trying to catch his attention. Ugh! Sarutobi was always trying to give him a genin team ever since he moved down a rank to jounin. Kakashi did the only reasonable thing he could think of at the moment. "Yes, just ignore him, he's not coming for me.. is he? Hmmm... evade.. maybe..."

"Kakashi-san."

Kakashi groaned inwardly.

"Hokage-sama requests your presence at his office."

Kakashi nodded, and the Anbu poofed away.

'Now if Sarutobi wants me to become a teacher.. I'm out.' he decided inwardly as he headed towards his destination.

So Hokage-sama, why did you request for me?" asked Kakashi.

"Kakashi. I want to ask you, are you willing to take a S-classed mission?"

* * *

"Ah-. So, are you saying Minato-sensai was alive all along?" asked Kakashi, with a dangerous glint in his eyes. "It was nessessary, Kakashi. I ordered him to do it."answered Sarutobi.

Kakashi was confused- and well shoked. He was very glad that his sensai was alive, but it was just... Could it have been that Minato-sensei didn't trust him enough to tell him the truth before moving, at the very least?

"Kakahi. Please understand. It was crucial that everybody believed Minato to be dead. Otherwise, he would have been found out, one way or another."

A pregnant pause followed.

"So-" Kakashi asked, suddenly excited at seeing his old sensai again, "I just have to go out to that place and just drag Minato-sensai back, right Hokage-sama?" "Yes."

"Well, then, I accept this mission."

* * *

A meeting was being held in a murkey room. It was acually the first one held ever since Orochimaru had betrayed the organisation, actually.

Pein stood on his position and adressed them. "Akatsuki. We have once thought the Kyuubi to have disappeared- but Sasori just confirmed of its existence. A spy positioned in Kohoha apparently overheard the Hokage giving an S-rank mission to a shinobi to retrieve the fourth Hokage and the jinchuriiki.

Your mission is to retrieve the nine-tails. Since the fourth Hokage is accompaning the jinchuriki, Sasori and Deidara will temporarily join Itachi and Kisame.

You will help each other out.

I will not accept failure for this mission. We cannot lose the jinchuriki again."

"Hai Leader-sama."

**I guess this chapter was also just the introduction. I decided to end this chapter by giving missions to Kakashi and the Akatski. For the next chapter, I'm planning to bring out Naruto and Sakura... Thanx for reading, and review please!**


	3. Chapter 3

**i told you guys i'll update this last week but i did't , i'm so sorry!**

**and i have an amazing beta now, Hyuga-Hanyou-Lover. **

**well, this is the new update, enjoy!**

* * *

"Psst. Sakura-chan. Can you tell me the answer for problem number twenty-seven?" Naruto looked at his friend curiously.

"Naruto!" hissed Sakura back, "This is an exam. We can't cheat!"

"But Saku-" Sakura silenced Naruto with a glare. Yes, Naruto was her best friend, and she loved him like a brother- but sometimes he was so...Ugh! Concentrate Sakura! You have to solve this problem...

Thirty minutes later...

"Whoohoo! Test's over," hollered Naruto. Sakura couldn't help but smile. Naruto hated exams, and always kept complaining it was useless in "real life". No amount of her preaching could convince Naruto otherwise.

"Hey Sakura-Chan, do you want to come over my house today and go to the gym together after school?"

"Hmm... Okay, sounds good, Naruto. I'll totally whip your ass today!" she replied with a scary grin.

"Hehe... Sakura Chan, so meet me at five, my house?"

"Sure," said Sakura. She loved hanging out with her best friend.

"Right. So don't be late Sakura-Chan!" Naruto grinned cheekily and rushed off.

* * *

Naruto, after the tedious exam, raced home, after a bit of basketball practice of course. He was a member of the basketball team after all. He had amazing endurance; he never got tired no matter how much the coach tried to push him. He aced at everything physical. He opened the door and would have yelled "I'm home!" but something stopped him. He didn't know what, but something felt- off. He crept into the house and heard a quiet discussion being held. He put his ears on the wooden door and listened.

"Time to go back? What are you saying?" asked his father. "Minato sensei, it's the Hokage's order." said a stranger. "But I thought we were to stay here forever, to protect ourselves from Akatsuki." There was a short pause.

"But sensei, Konoha needs you," pleaded the stranger. Naruto could hear the desperation in his voice.

"Please, I'm not willing to show Naruto the life of a ninja. I had my doubts at first, staying here, but this is a good place. If I only had myself to consider..."

'What were they talking about,' wondered Naruto. This was almost sounding like a conspiracy now. Konoha, Hokage, ninja, Akatsuki... Naruto's face darkened at the last words. He didn't like the sound of that last word. It sounded sinister, somehow. He didn't like it at all. He felt like he should know what it was…

"But Kakashi, Naruto has a life here. I can't just force him to leave- I really just can't."

"Minato sensei-"

Naruto had heard enough, he was bursting with questions and couldn't help himself. He burst into the room. He was greeted by his dad looking a bit surprised and guilty and- uh- a dude with silver gravity-defying hair with an eyepatch. "Dad, who is this?"

The men looked down at the young kid. How were they going to explain this…

* * *

**Beta note: Hi y'all. So I'm the new beta. I hope I did a good job. Please review for this awesome writer, Ja ne**


	4. Chapter 4

**Here's a new chapter! enjoy please~**

"Okay, I have no idea what you're talking about. What's a Konoha? And what's all this talk about ninjas? I'm pretty sure ninjas only existed in Japan, like, couple hundred years ago! And what is it about-"

"Naruto, please I'll explai-" started his dad, but then he was cut off by the stranger-, Kakashi. "So you're Minato- sensei's son?"

"Well I am." huffed Naruto. Why would he even listen to this strange man?

"Well, this wonderful!" exclaimed the man with fake cheer. He could see the resemblance. Blue eyes, blond hair; it was the same.

He then grabbed Naruto, and a cloud of white smoke surrounded both of them. When the smoke faded, Naruto realized that he was in the basement of his house. "Wha- what just happened?" he asked, wide eyed at the silver haired man. He was stunned… What is this man?

"Well, Naruto, you're going to help me convince Minato-sensei to return to Konoha. Hope you don't mind it much!" Kakashi smiled with his eye. The boy just glared at the man.

That was when Naruto noticed something which could be best described as a portal. It was oval- shaped, about six feet tall and three feet wide. It swirled with many different colors, and it seemed immeasurably deep. It was mesmerizing. "We're going in!" chirped Kakashi.

At that time, all Naruto could think of was "This man is crazy," as they dived in the porthole. Colors enveloped the duo.

Sakura walked home. The finals were over. She was certain she aced the exam. Really, it was easy. She sighed. Everything was so… dull. She didn't really fit in here; everything was too easy. She wished for a challenge. Something to really test her.

To top that, her life was so predictable. She knew that she was going to graduate with top scores, and was going to get into a great college. She'd probably decide to be a doctor or something. Everything was so normal, organized, and predictable. Sakura was sick of this. She wanted something that she couldn't predict.

This was why, when she first laid her eyes upon Naruto four years ago, she had wanted to know him better. He had an aura of unpredictability. It was exhilarating. So, she'd talked to him. Sakura wasn't sure what it was, but looking at Naruto, She had known that he was different and that he would change her repetitive life, somehow.

Now, Sakura wouldn't trade her friendship with the blond for anything in the world. Not that her life had changed much. Mind you, Sakura was still waiting for that moment. However, no matter how boring her life was, Sakura knew befriending Naruto was the best choice she'd ever made.

He was easy to get along with and they shared many fun moments together. For example, pranking and running around. Being with him, she wasn't Sakura Haruno, a perfect, model student and daughter, but rather Sakura, who wasn't perfect, but had a life. Her life had gone from dull to partially exciting.

Sakura opened the front door with her spare keys. Her parents weren't here, which was typical. They were almost always gone. She went into her room. The room was painted pale green, with yellow and white furniture. It looked clean, organized, and simple.

On top of her bookshelves, there were medals she'd won for judo and sharpshooting, as well as ones she'd gotten for math competitions as well as literature. And in the middle of it was her family picture she'd taken when she was seven. Her parents were hugging her tightly. She, herself, was in the middle, content and laughing.

Laughing...

Sakura was so tired, and so instead of fixing herself some snacks as she had planned, she took off her backpack and slipped under the fluffy blankets. Soon she slipped into an abyss called sleep.

Sakura ran to Naruto's house. Darn! She'd forgotten the time and was going to be late. Naruto would never let this down if she was! She arrived at his front porch, but he wasn't there. Huh? It wasn't like Naruto to be late. She looked around, but Naruto was nowhere to be seen. Sakura marched to the front door and began pounding. "Naruto! Open up! I'm here, lets-:" the door swung open.

"Finally!" exclaimed Sakura. Then, she realized the man who opened the door wasn't Naruto. It wasn't Mr. Namikaze either.

The stranger had midnight black hair held in a ponytail. He had the most beautiful black eyes she'd ever seen. He had a strange cloak on, black with red-cloud patterns. He was very handsome in an aristocratic way but, that wasn't the point here, was it?

"Who are you and what are you doing in Naruto's house?" demanded Sakura fiercely. The stranger merely stared at her, and she became frustrated.

"Hello? I'm asking you a simple question here. Can't you answer me?"

The dark haired man didn't reply.

Sakura was unnerved. She started to inch away-, then suddenly, the man's onyx eyes bled into red. Sakura couldn't even gasp as she fell into oblivion. Darkness shrouded her vision.

* * *

**I know it's a bit weird, making sakura be good at everything, but it's to prepare her for the ninja world. It's something to replace all the ninja acedemy training she would've gotten if she was born in the ninja world. Also, i don't like weak sakura. So, i just wanted to lessen the big gap she'll have to take in the ninja lands. other than that,**

**thank you so much for reading! review please!**


	5. Chapter 5

**CHAPTER FIVE**

**ah! sorry for the super-late update!**

**this chapter is longer than my usual, if you like this length better than my previous short chapters, tell me!**

**hope you enjoy~^^**

* * *

Naruto fell down hard onto the green forest floor.

"Ow..." he moaned.

When he struggled to get up, he cringed and fell down very hard. It hurt to move. He finally propelled himself up using his elbows and looked around.

"Where am I?" he half whispered. There was something off about this place.

Naruto then felt someone staring at him, so he swung his head to look back, and spotted a girl about his age with pretty dark blue hair, pale skin, and surprised wide, white eyes, holding lethal looking weapons. White eyes and weapons... She was pointing a few knife looking things in his direction. Naruto cleared his throat.

"Eh, I'm sorry if I disturbed you... Please don't stab me?" He asked in his sweetest voice possible.

"Wh-h-o a-are you?" stuttered the indigo haired girl as her cheeks turned a light pink.

Naruto paused for a second. The girl looked even more scared than he was. He decided to ease the tension.

Flashing a foxy grin at her, he introduced himself,"My name's Naruto! What's your name?"

"Hin-hinata Hy-Hyuga." Her fingers came together in a nervous gesture.

* * *

Minato was panicking. Yes, previous Hokages should not panic. But he was.

He had followed Kakashi back to Konoha a quickly as he could but, his son, Naruto, wasn't here. Kakashi had let his hold loose and Naruto had fallen down prematurely. He could be anywhere; Suna, Iwa, Kiri, even Konoha itself!

Kakashi tried to calm him down saying Naruto couldn't be very far from Konoha, and had left to search for him. Minato would have loved to follow him, but Sarutobi had cautioned him, saying he couldn't just walk out. It would cause mass panic- and in the least, thousands of questions from hordes of ninjas and civillians alike. Minato knew Sarutobi ws right, but still, that didn't mean he wasn't worried.

"Naruto, I hope your safe." Minato looked out of the Hokage's window.

* * *

"So I have no idea what really happened. One moment, I was demanding my dad who this stranger was- then the next, the stranger grabbed me and jumped into some kind of -"

Hinata looked at the tanned boy next to her. He really talked a lot. However, It didn't feel awkward to be with him, and she liked that a lot. He was different from everybody else in the compound. And it didn't hurt that he was kind of cute.

"So, y-you some-som-somehow just la-landed here?" Hinata asked, sounding a bit disbelieving. It wasn't that she thought he lied- it was more about how strange the whole story sounded.

"Yeah, it's weird isn't it?" replied Naruto, not offended at all.

Then, Naruto spotted a big mountain with four faces carved in it. Almost like the four president's carvings in Mt. Rushmore.

"What is that, Hinata?" He looked over at his new friend questionably.

"Wh-what?" Hinata followed Naruto's gaze. "O-oh, that. Tho-those are the c-carvings of our Hokages."

"Hokages?" He had heard that before.

"Y-yes. The Hokage is our leader. You have to be the st-strongest ninja and h-have to care for the well being of Konoha to become o-one. We c-carve their faces to honor them. The face on the way left is Hashi-hashirama Senju, our fir-first Hokage. Then To-tobirama Senju, Hiruzen Sa-sarutobi, and Minato Namikaze."

"Wait, Minato Namikaze?" asked Naruto in a strained voice.

"What's wrong?" Her voice was full of concern.

"Nothing. Nothing, Hinata."

Naruto felt queasy The carving did look like his father. It meant that his father was from here... He was so confused! Did this mean that his dad was a ninja? But his dad was a normal guy with a normal job back in his home, Earth... Wait, did he even know what his dad did for a living? Was his house back in his town- not actually his birthplace after all?

* * *

Naruto seemed to be very interested in the Hokages, especially our Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze. He asked everyone he met about Minato. The villagers were only too happy to tell him about our great Fourth Hokage- his power, his love for the village, and his great sacrifice.

Somehow, Naruto almost seemed proud of the Fourth when the villagers had a look of happiness and contentment on their faced while they talked about him. 'Why would he be proud of someone he'd just heard about?' wondered Hinata. Naruto also made her tell what a ninja was. Hinata didn't get how he didn't know what a ninja was, but she was just happy to tell him. It felt great to feel needed, and she liked that unlike others in her compound, Naruto payed attention to her words.

* * *

Hinata was great, explaining things to him carefully with patience.

'She is also very pretty,' he thought, with a blush.

Then suddenly, Naruto caught the delicious aroma of ramen drifting towards him. Ramen! It was his favorite food in the whole entire world. His stomach rumbled. Without even meaning to, he found himself drifting towards the ramen stall, and then stood, staring at the heavenly food.

"uh Na-naruto?" asked Hinata.

Naruto heard her, but he couldn't help it- he stared at the wonderful food cooking inside the stall. Hinata quickly jogged to thae ramen stall after him.

"Hey kids! You hungry?" asked a ruff, but cheerful voice inside the stall.

"uh-" They were greeted by a cheerful man cooking ramen.

"Hinata! We haven't seen you for a while! But you... Are you new here, kid? I haven't seen you around. My name is Teuchi," he pointing to a women next to him he said, "and this is my daughter, Ayame."

"My name is Naruto." Naruto smiled at the man. He was really nice.

"Well, kid, Why don't you have some ramen?"

"But I-" Naruto's stomach rumbled a bit louder this time. Why did it hate him?

Teuchi laughed. "You can always come and pay me back next time, if you want. Or you can help me out sometimes. Really though, I think you'd feel much better with some food in you. I promise that our ramen is the best you'll ever get to taste!"

Blushing, Naruto and Hinata sat down. "Thank you so much Teuchi-san!"

Teuchi placed a bowl of some ramen in front of Naruto. Naruto dug in the wonderful meal in front of him.

"Ahh," A soft moan escaped him. Teuchi was wrong. This ramen was not just the best ramen in the world. It wasn't just food either.

'A piece of artwork then,' Naruto decided. He was truly in heaven.

* * *

It was getting dark, and Hinata didn't know what to do. She didn't want to leave Naruto alone, but she had to go back to the Hyuga compound. So, they wandered around, and somehow, landed on the front of the Hokage's office.

* * *

Kakashi knew he was in deep trouble. he'd accidentally let his hold loose and Naruto had fallen- somewhere He had been looking for him the whole day in the outskirts of Konoha, but Naruto simply wasn't anywhere there. Then, he spotted two teens chatting amiably. One was the Hyuga heiress, and the other was... Naruto!

The copy-cat ninja Kakashi leapt in front of the two of them.

"You!" yelled Naruto as he ran up to the man.

"Y-you know h-him Naruto?" stuttered the Hyuga.

"Of course I do! he's the one who kidnapped me!" The Hyuga's eyes widened at that.

Kakashi glanced at her. She expressed way too much expression to be a Hyuga, "Ah- Hyuga-san, I thank you for finding little Naruto here. I was so worried when he lost his way towards the Hokage's office. Seems like you found him and led him to the correct location."

He grabbed Naruto by his collar. "We'll be going then." He dashed to the Hokage's office.

Hinata was left in the dust. "N-naruto - k-kun.." she whispered. "I hope you'll be okay."

* * *

"Ah- I found him!" exclaimed Kakashi happily. Naruto was officially pissed. what was this crazy man thinking? however, before he could think of anything nasty to say to his kidnapper, he spotted his dad.

"Dad!" he yelled, and gave him a bear hug. Minato hugged him back. They shared a few bliss moments of serenity. They Had finally been reunited.

Sarutobi and Kakashi looked at the two of them and smiled. Anyone with eyes could easily tell that they really cared for each other. It was a strong bond between father and son; It must have been developed over many years.

* * *

"So, Minato, I wish you'll accept to be our Hokage again."

"Of course Sarutobi sensei." Sarutobi took a breath. Minato and Naruto wasn't going to like this.

"And Naruto, you will get private lessons to be a ninja and will join this years graduating team as a genin."

"Wait. I don't want to force my son into becoming a ninja. He doesn't even know what being a nin-"

"If you'd let me, I would love to become a ninja." Everyone stared at Naruto. They hadn't thought that Naruto himself would actually want to be one.

"Natuto, no one's forcing you into this."said Minato carefully.

"No, dad I really want to be a ninja. I have much to learn, but from what I've heard, I want to become one. To protect the ones I love." Naruto looked at his dad determinedly and continued," And dad- I visited some places in the village and the villagers love you! they still recall you as the best Hokage ever and really appreciated you. They seem so happy too... I want to be like that. I want to be acknowledged and loved to! I want to make the villagers here happy, and content. I decided today that I want to protect this village. I will be Hokage, too!"

* * *

**Coletta: And that's the end. Naruto met Hinata! Yay! He also has his dream now, to become Hokage to protect his loved ones. I don't think Naruto can be Naruto without his desire to protect Kohana, so there. I hope you guys like this chapter! **

**Remember to review please!**


	6. Chapter 6

**CHAPTER SIX**

**hope you enjoy~^^**

* * *

"This is not a kyuubi jinnchhuriki." Deidara stated the obvious.

"No, she is not." Sasori agreed. "However, she is the only one around and it seems that the kyuubi and the fourth hokage have already left the premises. And we do need something to show Leader-sama, right, Itachi-san?" said Sasori.

"Hn."

* * *

"So, you are saying that you failed in retrieving the nine-tails?" hissed Pein malevolently.

Deidara replied "Yes leader-sama. However, we did get the jinchuriki's frien-"

"And how will that help us!" exclaimed Pein. The young man before him was infuriating.

Itachi, seeing the anger in the older man's eyes, intercepted,"It is good because if we had captured the ninetails, we would have had to hold him captive until we completed the extraction of all the other tailed beasts which could take several years. This way, we can capture the kyuubi container and extract him when the time is ripe, with no complications."

Sasori added, "Leader-sama, it will be easier to catch the ninetails now because, the yellow flash will be tied to konoha as the new hokage and will be unable to protect the kyuubi full-time. We also have something over them. The girl we captured seems to be very close with the Yellow Flash and Kyuubi. Konoha ninjas are known for being emotional, after all. The girl can throw them off-balance. The girl may even prove useful, if given proper training."

"And will this girl is willing to help us?"

Kisame smirked and replied "Itachi-san can erase her memory and we can feed her lies and train her. She will be completely loyal to us."

"Also, with the right moves, we can manipulate her to act as we want her to." said Sasori.

Pein masked his emotions quickly. Then he realized, they were right. If they had captured the kyuubi, it would have been a headache to keep him in the base. He had rushed things, and gotten emotional, which was all very unlike himself. 'I have to be more careful,' he declared in his mind.

"Watch the girl. If she becomes a hindrance, I'll expect you to dispose her."

* * *

Itachi stared at the unconscious, pink haired girl. She looked quite helpless.

He regretted that she had to be a part of his plans but, it couldn't be helped. At the time, he couldn't just go to the Leader empty handed, and capturing her was better than capturing the nine tails for Konoha's sake. It was his duty. He was almost sorry that she had be the one hurt, then chuckled dryly. She was just one of the many poor, innocent bystanders that always ended up getting hurt.

He reached his hands out and touched her cool forehead. Focusing, he channeled his chakra into her brain, shielding her memories away from herself. Blocking all the recollections she had, making her impossible to remember- as long as the shield he'd created in her mind was intact, that is. She'd still be herself, act as herself and would have all of her previous knowledge, but she just won't remember how she got it, won't remember any of her precious people. She would be like a clean slate now, ready to be molded into anything Akatsuki wished. Itachi blocked everything, but something made him turn back again. It was a risk, but he couldn't help it.

On a whim, he made a exception, and gave her one memory so she could hope. It would be futile hope, and it might be considered cruel to do it, but Itachi couldn't leave her so - empty. He wanted to give her a part of herself to remember. So he left out one memory- one word, really.

"Sakura-chan." her name, spoken by Namikaze Naruto, the nine tails.

It was merely an impulse. He never acted on impulses, because he couldn't afford to. But he made a small exception, just for this time around.

* * *

Sakura felt slightly sick and dizzy as she carefully opened her eyes. There was a sharp smell of anesthetic in the air. She was in a hospital. She groaned. She hated hospitals. That was why she taught herself first aid and read all medical texts she could find- not to become a doctor, but to have enough knowledge to be able to say away from a hospital at all times...

'Wait, what?' something was.. wrong. She cracked open her eyes and looked around, and then realized that this place wasn't a hospital. There were medical tools here on the other side- no hospital would put a patient next to all the dangerous equipment. And it lacked the too-fresh and awkward hospital feeling, even if it did reek of anesthetic. This probably was a small clinic of a sort.

But back to that strange feeling when she thought she hated hospitals... Why did she hate it again?

Then, also.. Sakura couldn't quite remember what she'd done to land in this room. Had she... Wait. Her last memory. Something was wrong. It was messed up. Who was she? She couldn't recall. She couldn't remember anything. What had she done yesterday? Did she have parents? She had no idea. But somehow, she knew things, like one plus one is two, I am a girl, and anesthetics are for making people loose consciousness or numb pain for surgeries- but she couldn't recall anything else other then that knowledge. Sakura panicked. 'What is this place,' she thought frantically and whirled around. 'What was her name?' But then..

"Sakura-chan." A happy, cheerful voice, even if a bit loud and annoying. Somebody was calling her. Sakura suddenly felt very calm and relaxed. 'So my name is Sakura.' The voice- it sounded familiar. And this gave her relief- and hope. She smiled slightly. Sakura... 'Nice name,' she thought with a smirk.

Sakura knew memories couldn't just suddenly disappear overnight. Unless she had some kind of mental trauma she wished to forget. But she couldn't remember yesterday, so...

Where did that leave her?

And she was in a hospital.. 'How long was I passed out anyways?' she wondered. Sakura was getting impatient. She had no idea where she was and she was curious.

Sakura got up slowly and crept towards the closed door. She carefully grabbed the handle and pushed the door open. Surprised that it opened without protest, Sakura let out a breath she didn't know she was holding.

Sakura faced a long dark corridor, lined with other doorways and hallways. It seemed endless. She chose to go forward.

'Simple is best. I might have to come back, and going straight... well, I won't get lost like this, eh?'

After a minute or so of walking, Sakura heard bangs and clashes of metal. It came out from a big room, even bigger than an assembly room. Two men were fighting. If it could be called fighting, that is. They seemed to be flying around at impossible speed, leaving havoc and destruction behind. A blue skinned man was swinging a gigantic sword around, and a doll-like boy was controlling several puppets with pale-blue strings.

The puppets shot darts and purple gas. The puppets, if they were puppets, looked very human, so much so that it was a bit unnerving. Both looked inhuman with their grace and strange abilities. Sakura felt awed, and unconsciously backed away- bumping into something hard behind her.

"Ugf! Watch it, un!"

She turned to face a blonde boy with a high ponytail and a bang that covered one eye.

"Are you okay?" asked Sakura, concerned. The blonde seemed to look at her again, and he seemed panicked.

"How- when did you get out, un?" But Sakura was in no mood to answer questions- she was in a mood to ask them.

"Tell me, where am I?"

* * *

Deidara was bombarded with questions he did not know how to answer. Starting from the seemingly simple question, Where am I? the pinkette seemed to have an endless supply of them. He hadn't expected the girl to gain consciousness quite soon and damn, Sasori or Itachi was supposed to handle this! "Ah- well that is... To answer your questions... "

Deidara spoke what just came into his mind. "We- I mean our group and you know each other. We saw you knocked out by an enemy ninja, and decided to help out. You were knocked out for couple of weeks 'Well a day really, but does that matter' and we were worried really..."

The girl stared him with a incredulous face. Deidara inwardly winced. She wasn't believing a single thing that came out of his mouth. He mentally sighed, She wasn't as dumb as he'd hoped.

* * *

The boy was obviously just blathering. He seemed a bit...nervous the whole time, and ninjas? Did he actually say that? He was just edging around the topic and Sakura was getting impatient. "Do you even really know me?"

"Of course, un!"answered Deidara with a bit of hesitation. Wasn't she supposed to be molded by them? He was supposed to lie, right? "Why would I lie?"

'Well I guess I'll test it out,' decided Sakura. "All right. If you really insist you do know me... What's my name, then?"

'Well... um... it's,' Sakura looked up at Deidara expectantly, a small smirk forming on her face. Deidara mentally screamed. Her memories were supposed to be erased! Was she just toying with him or... If Itachi hadn't erased everything, he was officially screwed.

"Sakura. Your name is Sakura." answered a deep voice from behind.

* * *

**Coletta: can you guess who spoiled Sakura's fun of teasing Deidara? Kinda obvious, isn't it? ^^**

**Beta~Man I really loved this chapter!~ Heheh Please review!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven**

**IMPORTANT: I disliked my previous chapter one so I changed it. If you didn't read the part where Kushina and Minato comes out, I recommend you to go back a chapter and read it again. I was going to add it in a flashback of Minato's, but I decided against that and changed my first chapter because it wasn't really satisfactory. Well, please read my chapter one again and tell me what you think about it!**

**thanks to The Keeper of Worlds, Abdullahsaurus, and Colette's a Bimbo for reviewing!**

* * *

"For a temporary time, Minato, you will hide the fact that you are the Fourth Hokage." Sarutobi told the two as if he were the supreme ruler, which he kinda was.

"What?" exclaimed Naruto. "Why would dad have to do that?"

"I want both of you to get used to the village, and want to give you a chance to really get to know the people better before they know you are the legendary Fourth Hokage and his son. Also, even if I do need to retire, Minato, you are pretty good out on the field. I might need you to do some things for the village that you won't be able to do if you are tied down as the Hokage. You can reveal yourself on the right time."explained Sarutobi.

"So Naruto, you can be Naruto Uzumaki and Minato, you can change your name to Toshio Uzumaki. Also- use a henge. Since Naruto's blonde, keep your hair color, but change yourself so you don't resemble the man carved on the Hokage Mountain."

Minato hesitated, then asked,"Sarutobi sensei, Uzumaki is Kushina's surname. Won't people notice?"

Sarutobi sighed. "They won't, trust me. If they do, we'll make them swear to keep the secret until the time is ripe to reveal it. Naruto, by any chance, did you tell anybody your full name?"asked Sarutobi. "I didn't," confirmed Naruto with a short nod.

"I wonder who'll be the first ones to find out." said Kakashi out loud.

"Well, you did say that you wanted to be a ninja, right Naruto? Well, next month, their will be new graduates, and they will be sorted into three man teams. One team, however, will be one man short. You'll have to get into that team. So, if you wish to graduate in a month Naruto... you'll have to practice hard. I hope you are a fast learner Naruto Uzumaki."

* * *

**_Three weeks later_**

Naruto sprawled on the training field. Damn, he was spent.

Sweat coursed down his body. Before Konoha, Naruto had never been exhausted, ever. His old school's basketball coach was notorious for working his players till death, but even he hadn't been able to make Naruto drained like this. however, Kakashi-sensei and his dad ... Well, they were on a different level. Well, Naruto mused, he had improved quite a lot.

he'd come from not even knowing what a kunai was to knowing how to kill with it in twenty different ways. Of course, it wasn't like he memorized any tactics he just did whatever came out of his mind. Kakashi had given up trying to teach him about planning, the fifty rules of a ninja, and some boring written,things not that Naruto cared much for it. Really what use would it be in real life? That thought brought him memories of Sakura. She would be furious he didn't keep the promise of meeting her, he knew.

He missed her. Did she miss him? Probably, thought Naruto with a grin. Then he frowned, Sakura would be very worried, he had practically vanished after all. Naruto pushed those thoughts away. He then opened his eyes, only to find Kakashi inches away from his face.

"Gah!" yelled Naruto and he stood straight up.

"Slacking off already are you Naruto. Too tired?" taunted Kakashi with an amused look. 'He looks too smug' thought Naruto with a pout. I wasn't slacking, Kakashi-sensei. "Oh, then what were you doing?" asked Kakashi. "I was.. well... um... Meditating!" shouted out Naruto triumphantly. Kakashi raised his eyebrows.

Kakashi, after showing Naruto new sets of training routines, left him alone. Kakashi was actually surprised at how quickly Naruto seemed to learn. Even without practice, Naruto seemed to instinctively act.

He'd never be able to be a natural tactician and planner, but he would be great out in the field. If Naruto wished to be Hokage, he'd have to fix that, but Kakashi didn't stress out on the brains much. He liked seeing skill and raw strength of his pupil and found that he enjoyed teaching Naruto how to hone his natural abilities.

Of course, Kakashi did know learning what academy students learned from age five in a month was going to be almost impossible. But somehow, Naruto had managed it, and he could even say he was better than most would-be academy graduates on skill on the field. For the written parts, well, Kakashi hoped others would turn a blind eye to that, really.

* * *

Hinata wasn't paying much attention to Iruka-sensai. She wanted to, but her mind kept wandering to the blonde boy she'd met about three weeks ago. She hadn't seen him for three weeks, and she wondered what he was doing...

Iruka-sensai clapped his hands, trying to get the students' attention. Hinata snapped out of her wonderings and tried to focus. "Class, we'll have a new student to join us today." "What?!" yelled Kiba. "But we're graduating today, sensei!" he exclaimed. "Yes," sighed Iruka, "but he has had training to fill in for not attending the academy." The students all began to protest loudly.

'I wonder who the new student is?'

Iruka sensai left the room, and reentered with a blonde boy with whisker marks in his face. Hinata's eyes got round and she mentally screamed 'Naruto-kun!'

"Ah- hi! My name's Naruto Uzumaki and I'm new to Kohana! I'll be the fifth Hokage, believe it!"

* * *

The jounin who was supposed to be their sensei wasn't coming. It's been two hours, and Sauske was getting bored.

Sauske couldn't believe that he was teammates with this- yellow hyper Hokage wannabe who didn't even attend the Acedemy. Also, by his quick observation, Sauske could tell that the idiot didn't even know anything about, well, anything. He was loud and annoying too. At least his other teammate, Sai, was quiet. And trying not to be offensive.

"Hey, dickless, do you really think the joinin- sensei will fall for that trick? You aren't that stupid, are you?" asked Sai with a cheshire-cat grin.

'Never mind,' thought Sauske. 'They're both idiots.'

The door opened and the jounin sensei fell for the rigged trap. "My first impression on you guys is, lets see, You are all idiots! Meet upstairs." said he and vanished with a puff of smoke. Naruto blinked and asked a tad bit late,"Kidnapper sensei?"

Sauske glanced at the boy. 'He knew the jounin already?'

* * *

"So, we'll start off with introductions. I'll go first." said Kakashi.

"I am Hatake Kakashi. I have no intentions of telling you my likes and dislikes. As for my dream... I have few hobbies. Your turn, Naruto." He said with a nod.

"Hmph! you didn't tell us anything."muttered Naruto. "I like ramen and Sakura-chan. My dream is to be Hokage!"

"My name is Sasuke Uchiha. I hate a lot of things, and I don't particularly like anything. What I have is not a dream, because I will make it a reality. I'm going to restore my clan, and kill a certain someone."

"My name is Sai. I like drawing and reading, and giving people fitting nicknames. I have no dreams."

"No dreams? are you kidding, Sai? Why do you live then, huh?" asked Naruto, outraged.

"I simply exist, dickless."

"What?! Hey take that back you-!" Kakashi pressed his fingers into his forehead and sighed. He could already feel the troubles this team would cause. Sighing, he took his hands off and said, "You'll be tested to become a genin."

"Aren't we genin already?" asked Sai.

Ignoring him, Kakashi continued,"Come tomorrow at seven. Don't eat breakfast, you might throw up."and promptly left the team, again.

* * *

**Toshio means hero. fitting for Minato, isn't it? And please review! i love to hear all your comments, criticizems, ect.**^^


	8. Chapter 8

**CHAPTER EIGHT**

**thank you The Keeper of Worlds, Guest, and Zeles for reviewing!**

**Guest: I know, i like that too ^^ hope you like this chapter too!**

**Zeles: i fear for anyone who kidnaps you, seriously. xD**

* * *

"My name is Itachi, this is Deidara. You must have questions- but I've noticed, you did not recongnize Deidara." he stated. It took a while for Sakura to realize that he had just asked a question.

"I- I don't remember anything." muttered Sakura. "Except my name, that is." Itachi seemed to think for a bit then spoke out," You remember nothing."

"Ye-yes."

Itachi stared at her for a while, then told her in a monotone,"You are Sakura, you have no family. As Deidara have said- You were our acquaintance's friend. More specificly, you were taken under his care ever since your parents were killed by enemy ninjas. While you were coming to meet us, you were attacked. We spotted you in time and rescued you, but unfortunately, our acquaintance was already killed. Only Deidara and I saw you once, others only heard of you. We do not know much, we only heard what i've told you now by our acquaintance message bird."

Sakura paused. "Why where we coming to meet you?"

"You have previously wanted to train as a ninja so you could protect yourself,"replied Itachi.

"I did?"

"Hn."

"Also, who is the 'we' you are talking about?"

"Akatsuki."

"Akatsuki?"

"We are a ninja organization striving for world peace."

The two continued on with their conversation.

* * *

Sakura felt like her brain would blow up from all the information she'd received.

Common sense told her to not trust them, to not believe whatever they said. Ninjas, really? But Sakura couldn't disbelieve the red-eyed man, he didn't look like the one to make up ridiculous lies that he couldn't prove just to fool little girls.

'If he had lied,' thought Sakura, 'he would've chosen a more believable one anyways.'

Then, she'd asked for proof that they were ninja- and Deidara had walked up the wall. Literally. After that, Sakura saw no reason to not believe, but still, it was a bit confusing. Scratch that, a lot confusing. Sakura hated being confused, it was a headache.

They didn't seem to be lying, and for all she knew, they had no reason to lie to her. She sighed. They must be telling the truth.

Probably.

* * *

"We brought you here since you were injured and your protector and we knew each other. Now, since you happen to be well, you have to leave. Only the members of Akatsuki can dwell here."

"What?" exclaimed Sakura. So, this was a world of ninjas, not suited for fragile little girls. She got that. But what she didn't get was her role in all of this. In simpler terms, Sakura had no idea what to do. She was... lost. And she'd expected this man who supposedly knew her to help her through this- as foolish as that sounded. She should have never expected anything.

Frustrated, she yelled out," If I leave now- what you told me might be true, but it doesn't tell me what to do. If- if you just make me leave, what am I supposed to do?" demanded Sakura. Her voice rose into fervor as she continued, "You said my parents are dead, as well as my protector- I have no one- I.. And how do I know who will kill me or help me, without my memories? I'll die." Sakura's voice cracked. "What am I supposed to do now? I.. I don't know..."

Sakura looked completely lost. Tears threaten her eyes.

"Do you wish for us to help?"

"How will you help me? You said you cannot let me stay here, I'm not Akatsuki." Sakura spat out.

"You can be ninja first." said Itachi quietly. "We will start your training. Akatsuki is a ninja organisation. We'll make you our apprentice. If you are good enough, you might even become a official Akatsuki member later."

Deidara glanced at Itachi. 'So this was what he was aiming for,' he realized. 'For her to realize she had nothing except for us. So she'd be relying on us to make her choices.' Deidara shivered. The Uchiha was a freaky manipulator.

"I want to be a ninja." said Sakura, determinedly.

"Follow," said Itachi curtly, and began to walk towards the same direction as she came from. They passed the clinic then took a right turn. Itachi stopped in front of a random door and opened it.

Itachi and Deidara had lead Sakura into an empty room. Clean and simple, it was a light green room with white furniture. Her bed looked soft and fluffy. There was an empty bookshelf and a table with a wooden chair. On the other side was the closet. No windows, just like the clinic and the assembly room, as well as the dark hallways she previously visited.

They told her that it would be her room now, and left her alone. Sakura's head was now a mixture of doubts and uncertainity, but mostly, she was relieved. She decided to train hard, to make Akatsuki proud of her, to prove that she was useful. She was going to make them glad that they decided to take her as Akatsuki's apprentice.

'They'll teach me what I lost. I'll know what to do once they teach me.' That thought reassured her. 'I won't be so lost next time I loose my family.'

More resolutely, she repeated out loud, "There won't be a next time."

* * *

After leaving the girl alone in her room, Itachi and Deidara went to the 'living room' of their base.

"The girl awoke. She's been told that except for Deidara and me you have only heard of her. She is now Akatsuki's apprentice. Do not harm her for now." stated Itachi, then left quietly.

"She awoke earlier then expected." mused Sasori.

"Don't tell me danna, un," groaned Deidara. "She was asking so many questions too, annoyed the hell out of me, yeah."

Kisame snorted, "You probably just panicked because you didn't know what to say. Blundered few times and waited for Itachi to fix your mistakes, isn't that right?" he goaded.

Deidara glared at the blue ninja. "I handled the situation fine thank you very much," he retorted. "Probably better than what you could have done, fish-face."

"Be quiet will you?" said Sasori sharply as he polished his Hiruko puppet.

Kisame just laughed out loud, amused.

Deidara huffed, then grabbed an apple and left the room.

"Wonder what the girl is like don't you Sasori?" asked Kisame.

Sasori didn't reply as he continued making adjustments to his puppet.

* * *

Sakura was sleeping deeply when she was dumped out of her bed.

"Ah!" she yelled. She looked up, and saw a blue skinned man looming over her. Her mouth formed an o to scream, but wasn't given the chance as Kisame said, "Oi, twerp, awake now?"

Already outside the door, he motioned for her to get up and _get going._ "Well, hurry up, ain't got all day."

Then, looking at her dishevealed form, he seemed to rethink for a bit then said, "Well, get dressed and meet me in the training area."

Sakura had just woke up so her mind was a bit hazy at the moment. She sat for a moment, confused. Then she jumped up, and quickly dressed in simple black pants and a T-shirt in the closet. It fit her perfectly.

Her mind cleared at this time and she now realized the blue man must be part of the Akatsuki. 'He said meet in the training area- so he'll be my first teacher, huh?'

Nervously, she wiped the sweat on her hands with her pants. 'This was going to be her first training!' she thought with glee. Though, her sensei did look, uh, peculiar...' Curious, she wondered,'Was he born blue?'

'Training area.. Where was the training area anyways?' thought Sakura as she tried to navigate the dark corridors. Sakura then realized, 'Hm.. It must be the big assembly room where I saw two men fighting the other day.' She recalled how she had come to her room after bumping into Deidara there. 'Good thing I was paying attention, or I'd have truly been lost.' she thought, while retracing the steps she took yesterday.

'The twerp sure is taking a long time.' Kisame thought. Then Sakura arrived, looking a bit nervous as well as uncertain. "Finally decided to show up?" he asked the pinkette.

Sakura flushed slightly and answered, "I got lost." He snorted. "Well, be glad I'm not Sasori Sakura, he hates tardiness."

"I'm going to train you in taijustsu. Watch and learn."

He showed her some kicks and punches. "Copy me."

Kisame watched as the girl tried to copy his movements. She looked very small and petite, but for her size, she was doing better than he expected. She did look fit, as if she exercised daily- well, daily for a civilian anyways. However, she had no power behind the punches, and her stance was incorrect. 'I'd better teach her the stance first.' he decided.

_three hours later_

"That's enough," said Kisame. He looked at Sakura on the floor. He had to give it to her, she did try her best. But still, if she didn't build her strength, it would be useless. 'I should bring weights for her next time.'

* * *

Sakura's whole body was sore from the training she'd gotten from Kisame. The start was a bit chunky but later she'd been able to get a kick in correctly. The stance was going to need time for her to get used to- Kisame had made her stay completely still in that stance alone for an hour, and it had been totally exhausting, not to mention that it still felt unnatural. She didn't know that even standing still was going to be so challenging.

Kisame showed her the kitchen. A red haired boy was already there, sitting on the counter and tapping his fingers impatiently on the table. "Sasori, what are you doing in the kitchen?" asked Kisame.

"I was curious," stated the puppet master.

"Ah, you wanted to see Sakura over here?" said Kisame, then turned to Sakura, "This is Akasuna Sasori, another member of Akatsuki, Sakura."

"Hi Sasori-san," said Sakura. Sasori scruinitized her. Sakura felt uncomfortable, and squirmed under his gaze. Not wanting to look rude but not wanting to stay still either, Sakura said, "Do you want something to eat?"

Kisame guffawed then said, "Sasori's never hungry, Sakura."

"Huh? Why?" asked Sakura. She directed her question to the said boy. "I am a puppet, a piece of artwork. I am never hungry, nor do I ever physically get tired."

Sakura's jaw fell wide open. "Seriously? How are you talking to me then? Is someone else controlling you?"

"No. My body might be made of wood but I can think and fight." said Sasori.

"Oh." This was absolutely confusing!

Kisame placed two bowls, a cereal box, and a carton of milk on the counter with a thud. "Let's eat." After few minutes of slurping and chewing, he finished his bowl and stood up. "Well Sakura, after you're done, meet me in the training field again. We'll continue working on your stance."

"Yes Kisame!" answered Sakura cheerfully. "I'm finished too, I'll come with you." She stood up and grabbed the dishes to put in the sink.

Sasori got up too, and finally glanced away from her and said, "You'll train with me at five o'clock sharp in the same training grounds. Read about the basics of what chakra is and theory of chakra control in the library and get some head knowledge about it first." Then he left her. She was halfway there to the training fields when it came to her, 'Where was the library, anyways?'

* * *

**Beta~ I absolutely loved this chapter! Great job Colette. **

**Coletta: Please review! i love to hear all your comments, criticizems, ect.^^**


	9. Chapter 9

**CHAPTER NINE**

**thanx to The Keeper of Worlds, Zeles for reviewing^^**

* * *

Naruto arrived, with dango in hand. He had waken up at seven but didn't rush at all, because he knew Kakashi was always late. His previous training he had with Kakashi had shown that it was impossible for the man to ever be right on time. He even visited the dango shop and bought three sticks, one for himself and the rest for his teammates. They were probably bored out of there minds waiting for there ever-so-tardy jounin instructor and in his opinion, eating helped boredom.

"You're late dickless." said Sai. "

"Hmph, i'm not the latest one am I?" answered Naruto. Sai had no reply for that, so he kept silent.

"Here, eat some dango while waiting." Naruto said, and tossed the sticks to Sai and Sauske.

"Wow, you're giving that to me? I thought you were going to stuff yourself, dickless." said Sai with a fake, incredulous voice.

"Hn."

Naruto sighed, "Really, is it really that hard to say a simple thank you?"

He was met with empty stares from both his teammates.

"You're late!" cried out Naruto as Kakashi strolled in. He was glad Kakashi was here, Sai was creeping him out.

"Why were you so late?" Sai asked curiously. Or curiously for him, to others, he sounded eery.

"Sorry I'm late guys, a black cat crossed my path so I had to go the long way."

Sai stared, Sauske snorted, and Naruto.. "There are no black cats in Kohana!"

Then, a black cat strolled by, meowed and left. "Ah! Look! it followed me here!" exclaimed Kakashi, and pretended to cower.

All three boys twitched in annoyance.

* * *

Kakashi held two bells with his two fingers. Gentle wind blew and the bells clashed together, making a clear ringing sound.

"Here are two bells. Your task is to take these away from me before the time's up. The timer is set for noon. Those who don't have the bells by that time will have no lunch and will be sent back to the academy."

"There's only two bells," observed Sai.

"Yup! So at least one of you will fail, no matter what happens!" chirped Kakashi.

"What? That's not fair, kidnapper-sensei!" shouted Naruto.

"I told you not to call me that," deadpanned Kakashi.

Naruto snickered.

"Well, come to me with intent to kill, you won't have a chance otherwise." said Kakashi, still a bit annoyed. "Ready? Begin!"

Sai and Sauske quickly hid themselves from Kakashi. However, Naruto charged at him with several kunai in hand.

"Naruto, aren't you supposed to hide first, like a proper ninja?" drawled Kakashi.

"This is time limited Kidnapper-sensei. I can't waste precious time. And anyways, you always manage to find me every time I hide," said Naruto flippantly. He then threw three kunai at him, but Kakashi dodged them all with ease. Naruto used that time to lunge foward and engaged Kakashi in a taijutsu fight.

Kakashi's eyes metally widened, Naruto was- good. He was even better than the last time they sparred together, 'Maybe he works better under pressure?' While he was distracted by his own thoughts, Naruto managed to touch the bell. Naruto mentally shouted, 'Yes!' but it was too early to celebrate. Kakashi slid behind Naruto and kicked him, hard, on the back.

Naruto was flung back several feet, but he managed to land upright and sprang up again. He decided to make some clones to distract Kakashi. Going through the hand seals fairly quickly, Naruto made fifteen clones of himself, whom all raced in to attack Kakashi without hesitation.

After Naruto was certain Kakashi was distracted, he left the field to set up a trap.

* * *

'Though he is an idiot, it makes sense,' thought Sauske, albeit grudgingly. They were being measured on time too and if all three of them hid, well, Kakashi would have had picked on them one by one. The idiot made several clones and was fighting. He wondered, 'Maybe I should help?' but quickly dismissed the thought.

He would be better off alone. He was an Uchiha, and was superior to his other 'teammates'. He didn't need any help. He would just wait for an opening and enter in the fray then, when he himself was at an advantage.

Sai rechecked his tools. It would be best to lunge now, while Kakashi was surrounded by Dickless's several clones. He now just had to wait for an opening.. There! He jumped out of hiding, and opened his scroll. Taking out his paintbrush, he sketched several lions and cried out, "Art of Cartoon Beast Mimicry!"

Sauske apparently had the same idea because at the same time, he had lunged out to perform "Katon, Goukak yuu no justsu!"

Kakashi slightly widened his eyes as he saw inky lions and a huge ball of flame coming for him. He dodged, and several of Naruto's clones took in the damage instead.

'These justsu- these academy graduates are more skilled then they should be,' thought Kakashi. 'But they suck at teamwork' he concluded as the clones, fire, and ink collided to make a huge mess- blowing both Sauske and Sai off their feet. Kakashi noticed that Naruto wasn't with them. All his clones were disabled, and no real Naruto was in sight. He sushined away to search for him and to observe what Sauske and Sai would do discretely.

Sauske groaned as he got up, Narrowing his eyes at the other boy, he commanded,"Stay out of my way. If you hadn't interfered, I could have gotten the bell."

Sai gave him a fake smile, "Really, Sauske? I don't think you could have done that- you obviously lack in common sense. If you didn't want to be interfered, you shouldn't have appeared when I was attacking Kakashi-sensei. Or maybe you weren't quite aware of me approaching. That would make you unfit for a ninja, since it is a dangerous job for people as unaware of their surroundings as you."

Sauske glared at the boy for a second, then turned around with contempt. He was going to find Kakashi-sensei and fight him for real. He was going to pass this test. He had to.

'What to do, what to do.' wondered Sai, as Sauske left him alone, presumably to go after Kakashi-sensei again. Kakashi-sensei was very skilled; he was certain he and the other two would never be able to steal the jounin's bells. He knew he couldn't do it; it was quite impossible, judging from how the previous scuffle had turned out. 'Maybe I can get one to be my ally and work together?

However, he didn't trust his teammates, and wasn't sure of their skills. 'But I'll never be able to defeat this jounin alone..' mused Sai. Still, that prospective was very unattractive to him. So Sai decided to sit back out where the timer and the lunches were at. He would just sit out and wait for the timer to ring. He glanced at the timer. There wasn't much time left, anyways.

Naruto stood proudly with hands on his sides as he admired his well-made trap. He rubbed his hands in anticipation and his eyes gleamed with delight. Suddenly, he tensed. He crouched low, and scanned the area. Finding no one, he jumped on the tree branch to wait for Kidnapper-sensei.

Kakashi soon appeared, apparently trying to spot him. 'Wow, that's actually a decent trap,' thought Kakashi. 'I don't remember teaching him that...' Then from the sidelines, Sauske appeared.

"You'll find that I'm different from others," said Sauske.

"Really, Sauske-kun?" asked Kakashi. "Somehow.. that's pretty hard to believe."

Sauske's eyes burned with determination as he attempted a roundhouse kick to Kakashi's head.

Kakashi ducked, and when Sauske lost balance grabbed his legs and chucked him to Naruto.

"Ughf!" yelled the two as they dropped head-first, to Naruto's extremely well-made trap. They were both hopelessly tangled by the nets.

"So how are you different, Sauske-kun?" drawled Kakashi. "Extra stupidity, perhaps? Well, seeing that Naruto is trapped in his own trap, maybe you two aren't that different, after all."

Both boys scowled.

Ring!

"Time's up!" chirped Kakashi.

* * *

Naruto and Sauske sat dejectedly next to the poles. On one of them, Sai was tied to it. He didn't struggle, but they thought he looked unhappy.

"Guess what?" said Kakashi, "You three should all quit as ninjas."

"What?!"exclaimed Naruto. "We didn't get the bells, yes, but that doesn't make you boss us around!"

"None of you here deserve to be ninjas" grounded out Kakashi.

Sauske was furious. He lunged out at Kakashi but was pinned down quickly. Looking back at the other two, Kakashi asked, "Do you know what you three missed?"

A silent pause filled the training grounds.

"Teamwork."

"You three all went out all on your own, and didn't watch out for your teammates' other justus. You canceled each other out, and made each others' attacks ineffective. In a real mission, this kind of attitude cold have killed you all."

Kakashi released Sauske from his grip and watched as the three absorbed his words.

"I'll give you three another chance. Eat up and get ready. But don't give any to Sai, it's punishment for sitting out and quitting. Anyone who gives him food will automatically be disqualified, and my words are the ninja law, for now."

With that final note, Kakashi left them to their own devices.

* * *

Sauske got his lunch and began to eat but Naruto hesitated. He then opened his lunch and took a chopstickful of food, but instead of eating, he gave the food to Sai.

"What are you doing, dickless? Do you want to be disqualified?" asked an incredulous Sai.

"Well-" hesitated Naruto.

"You should eat Sai." said Sauske resolutely. "Naruto's right. Without food, you'll only be in our way. We need teamwork to get the bells, remember?"

Sai looked at the two, and his incredulous face slowly morphed into a smile. The smile was smaller then the other ones he gave- but it seemed more natural and real.

"Thanks Dickless, Caring."

As soon as those words came out of Sai's mouth, Kakashi appeared in front of them.

"You Pass!" boomed Kakashi.

"Huh?" asked Naruto.

"A ninja must see underneath the underneath. Those who break the ninja rules are lower than trash but those who don't care for their teammates are lower than trash." declared Kakashi. "Therefore, all three of you pass. Congratulations, you are now officially genin."

* * *

**Coletta: this was my first fight scene! how was it? was it good? or too choppy and unnatural?**

**please review! i love to hear all your comments, criticizems, ect.^^**


	10. Chapter 10

**CHAPTER TEN**

**thanx to Colette's a Bimbo for reviewing!^^**

* * *

Minato was called by Sarutobi on the day Naruto had his genin test. Upon entering, he bowed slightly. "You called for me Sarutobi sensei?" asked Minato.

"Ah- Toshio." greeted Sarutobi. "We haven't discussed your mission yet, haven't we? I'll assign you the mission- and several who will help you with it." "And who will help me?" asked Minato. "People you have known before," said Sarutobi with a smile.

"I get that you are now getting used to the village again?"inquired Sarutobi

"Yes. I have missed Konoha- it's good to be home again," said Minato with a grin. "But I've been meaning to ask you," started Minato with a very concerned look, "I have looked around the village- but the Uchiha's compound is empty. I've asked what I could to other villagers- civillians, but they were very close-mouthed about it, and the most I got was them hero-worshipping the only survivor of the massacre, Uchiha Sauske. Can you clear this up for me, Sarutobi sensei?"

A dark shadow passed over Sarutobi's face. In a grim voice, he said, "The Uchiha massacre. It is one of my greatest shortcomings, even more so than Orochimaru's defection." Seeing Sarutobi was troubled, he gently questioned, "I heard Uchiha Itachi was involved."

Sarutobi's face contorted to a grim mask. "Uchiha Itachi is now a missing nin of Konoha who massacred the whole clan, except Sauske Uchiha." Minato waited for more, but instead of answering, Sarutobi only replied, "Toshio. You do not need to know any more. Leave the past as it is... We must move on." Minato looked at his sensei, ready to disagree, but something in Sarutobi's face stopped him. He sighed, then said, "Alright, sensei. So then.. the mission I'm supposed to take. What is it?"

The door was knocked. Then three ninjas entered. Minato looked at them, his old friends and comrades. He hid his emotions well, and spoke in a neutral voice, "So these are my new teammates, Hokage-sama?"

"Nara Shikaku, Morino Ibiki, and Yamanaka Inoichi," introduced Sarutobi, "This is Uzumaki Toshio, whom you'll be working with for this S ranked mission."

The four ninjas eyed each other. Minato spoke up first, "Hello, Nara-san, Morino-san, and Inoichi san." The other three replied pleasently enough, but inspected him warily.

"Now, I'll brief you the mission. You four will be in a group for this mission. The group can easily change at any time- but for now, you must keep the secrecy until I decide otherwise. I will divide you into three groups. Inoichi and Ibiki will gather information, Shikaku will make the plans and draw conclusions, and I expect Toshio to do the field work."

"I believe you've heard about the new sound village haven't you? Something is suspicious, as you well know, Orochimaru defected and created Sound. He has dangerous goals which i am uncertain about, but it may effect Kohona negatively. We must be aware of them, however we must not let them know we are on to them."

"You are thinking it would be best to send Uzumaki-san to solo missions around Sound to gather information, right Hokage-sama?" asked Shikaku.

"Yes," answered Sarutobi. "And also- there is an organisation, Akatsuki, that is troubling. Their plans seem to center around capturing the kyuubi for their own reasons. This was proven twelve years ago, when the fourth comfirmed it from a masked man. We must also find information about them, but they are shrouded. Jiraya is working on this, but I wanted you four to be aware."

"Yes Hokage sama" answered the four.

"You are dismissed."

* * *

As they left the Hokage tower, Ibiki called Minato "Uzumaki -san."

"Yes?" answered Minato carefully.

"I must say, I have questions for you. About why i've never seen you before in Konoha, and why you are so trusted to be assigned on a S ranked mission." asked Ibiki. "Troublesome," muttered Shikaku in the background.

"I'm sorry Morino-san, but that is confidential. Only Hokage-sama has been told and it will stay that way until he determines otherwise." said Minato firmly. "However, you do not have to be so worried, I will protect Konoha with my life."

Ibiki studied him, and found out that he was telling the truth. This allowed him to relax a bit. Taking his hand out to shake he said, "Then welcome to Konoha, Uzumaki-san. I will enjoy working with you."

"Please just call me Toshio." said Minato. He was never one for formalities anyways. "Call me Ibiki then." said the scarred ninja.

Inoichi took a step forward towards the two and pointed to his friend and himself, saying, "Shikaku and Inoichi. Say, do you want to eat lunch together?"

* * *

After the luch with his new teammates, Minato realized had missed all of his friends. He knew he had to get back their trust again, but that didn't dishearten him. Instead it cheered him up. H was working for his village again- his friends would warm up to him in no time. even if he had to keep his identity a secret, minato was just glad to be back home.

His old friends; hiashi hyuga, whom he loved to tease the man how formal he was, Chouza Akimichi always kind and food-loving, Tsume Inuzuka, the fierce dog lover, Guy- it was amusing to see him with Kakashi, Fugaku Uchiha... His thoughts paused. He was dead, killed by his own son. Minato grimaced. He couldn't believe it, when he saw the Uchiha prodigy, he was a peace loving, kind but quiet boy just five years old. To have changed so much to kill his entire clan... Minato couldn'thelp but find the situation strange. 'It didn't match up,' he decided. Sarutobi sensei might have told him to bury the past, but he couldn't do that. 'This is one way I'm different form Saruotbi-sensei.'

He waited for Naruto to come back home. Knowing his son's skill and nature, he knew his son would pass, so he wasn't worried. The door slammed open and Naruto yelled, "Dad!I'm home!"

He smiled as he went to greet his son.

"Dad, I passed the genin exams! It actually was about teamwork, not about your skills! I never knew."

Minato couldn't help but grin, and when Naruto caught it...

"Wait, you knew about the whole test didn't you?" asked Naruto suspiciously.

"Of course, Naruto. I'm the one who made it up, didn't you know?" said Minato, innocently.

"Hey, you could have told me and saved all the trouble!" complained Naruto.

"That would have been cheating. And you didn't need it anyways, hm?"

"Of course not," replied Naruto. He still seemed to be pouting until suddenly, Naruto's face stretched into a huge grin as he asked, "Dad, as a celebration for me becoming a genin, can we eat out at Ichiriku for tonight?

'Of all traits he could inherit from his mother, he just had to have Kushina's ramen obsession.'

Sighing deeply, he made a great show of taking out his wallet and walking out. "Training first, Naruto."

"Yes!" Naruto cried out , fists punching the air.

Minato laughed at his son's exuberance.

* * *

**Coletta- **

**I'm so sorry for making you wait so long! I was really busy in these weeks with korean new years with my family, orchestra concert, etc. **

**I made Sarutobi close -lipped even to Minato. I actually think thats how he usually acts like. He is a well-meaning, kind hearted old man, but he is also the one who was hokage during the ninja war. He also ordered the massacre, so he's not as kind hearted, if Konoha's safety is concerned. He is also almost foolishly tight lipped. He never told anyone the truth about the massacre or about Naruto's parents, or the fact that Naruto had kyuubi sealed in him. Supposedly he did that to protect Naruto, but i believe it did more harm then good.**


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter Eleven**

**BP: Ah, the reason i had this tagged this Naruto Hinata was because most people seemed to think that putting this fanfiction up as Naruto Sakura was rude for Naru/Saku lovers. And well, I'm focusing this strory more on friendship and adventure, so yes, i guess you are right, Hinata doesn't come out very often, and yes, i prefer Naru/hina. It's just that.. Naruto /Hinata is so cute together... Squeal!^^ Oh well, . Thanck you for pointing that out, you are completely right. It should be tagged under Nauto and Sakura, since they are the main characters. But i have changed this two times, first i put it up under Naruto Sakura than to Naruto Hinata, so I dont really want to change it again. **

* * *

Sakura, Sasori, Itachi, and Deidara was sitting in the living room, relaxing. Sakura was on a comfortable couch, and she was trying to read the scroll about Amegakure's history. She was trying to focus, but it was late and lounging on the couch didn't help her concentrate. She couldn't help herself as her mind slowly drifted off.

Sakura was slowly getting used to her own memory-loss and Akatsuki. She was very curious of her past, but she had decided that she didn't need it. The things she needed to know were still with her anyways; she could read, write, count, use her chopsticks, etcetera. And anyways, her life with the Akatsuki prevented her from having any free time to mope. Not that she wanted to mope anyways.

She was always busy; training, reading, eating, and sleeping. They told her that her past self had wanted to become ninja, and she had decided to become one because she didn't really have another option. However, now, she couldn't think of her life not training to be a ninja. Her Akatsuki teachers weren't caring or loving- heavens forbid that, but she grew to like them in their own ways. She couldn't wait to become par with them, so she could put her new-found skills to use.

Training with Sasori had gone on smoothly. Sasori had first given her simple exercises for chakra control and had soon discovered that her chakra control was perfect. He remarked he'd never seen the level of control she had over it and it left her feeling giddy. Soon after that, however, she quickly learned that Sasori hardly ever praised her, unless she was _perfect_. He was now teaching her about poisons and she quickly learned that poison was all about accuracy. If she even made a minuscule mistake, his remarks were harsh and painful.

Tobi, strangely, taught her stealth. She didn't think the masked man could ever be stealthy with his loud personality, but soon discovered how quiet and graceful he could be if time called for it. She had to admit, compared to Tobi, she was as quiet and graceful as a bumbling elephant.

Deidara helped her in basic ninjustsu, he helped her with the simple clone jutsu and henge so far. He was now teaching her how to make explosive tags. He complained all the time that he couldn't teach her true art, which was apparently a "bang!"

Kisame kept reminding her of her small chakra supply, but she knew it was to get her to build it up more. He pushed her hard physically and really it definitely wasn't her strong point, which made her work for it more.

Itachi taught genjutsu and tactics. He was a quiet teacher, careful and precise. She liked it when he was teaching her tactics; it was fun to discuss about the past wars and what they could have done to succeed. There were many variables to it, and it helped her think. He was probably her favorite liked the logic behind it and solving problems; it gave her satisfaction knowing that she was very skilled at that particular field. She disliked genjutsu though. She didn't like the idea of making others suffer through an illusion, and disliked being subjected to it.

"Sakura-chan, yeah," said Deidara.

"Huh?" she asked momentarily. "Oh sorry Deidara- I kind of spaced out."

He looked slightly amused as he said, "I've noticed that, un."

"Well, we were thinking, Sakura-chan, since you have been training for over a month, it's time for you to know what actual fighting looks like, yeah."

"What?!" exclaimed Sakura, surprised.

"Don't worry, it won't be us that you'd be fighting," smirked Deidara. "For now, a jounin from Amegakure will spar with you, un."

"Why?" asked Sakura. She was a bit hurt and disappointed that she would be fighting someone other than her teachers. Why couldn't they just spar with her?

Looking a bit uncomfortable, Deidara said, "Eh- Sakura-chan, it's because…" he trailed off, as if looking for the correct words when Sasori harshly replied, "You lack the skill."

Sakura stared at Sasori with her mouth slightly opened in shock. What did he just say?

"Our time is precious and we will not waste it fighting a lowly ninja with the skills of an adequate genin. The purpose is to get you used to using your skills in an actual battle. A jounin is adequate for such purposes, we do not need to train with you for that," he answered coldly.

"Ah- that sounds reasonable, Sasori-san," said Sakura quietly. Blinking several times, she stood up. Sakura gathered the scrolls she was reading. She tried to be indifferent, but Sasori's words echoed in her head. Sakura felt her neck tighten as she said, "Excuse me for now." She quickly fled the room, all the while feeling Deidara's worried look, Sasori's calculating gaze, and Itachi's emotionless stare boring behind her back. That just fueled her need to get out of the base.

Her emotions were boiling and churning inside her. 'I won't be weak,' she told herself. 'I'll be strong, and I'll show them how useful I can be. I just need a bit more training.'

She raced out to the training field. Sakura then proceeded to beat the training dummies senselessly. She might not excel at physical combat, but she loved it. It helped channel her emotions and cleared her mind, helping her think. After pounding several dummies to death, she noticed that someone was with her in the training fields.

Without bothering to face him, she asked harshly, "Itachi-san, what are you doing here?"

"Hn."

"You came here to see if I'd break down?" asked Sakura, her eyes narrowed.

The man didn't reply.

"Well, that isn't happening anytime soon!" yelled Sakura. "I was just surprised, that's all. I always knew Sasori was a jerk."

Then Sakura realized what she'd just said and her face paled. "Itachi-san, don't tell Sasori-san I said that."

"Hn."

Wincing, she said, "I was just frustrated, I want to be strong but compared to you guys I'm so weak and I hoped I'd get stronger to protect those precious to me-"she blabbered on without even pausing for breath. She wanted Itachi to understand. She really did. In her eyes, she begged for him to do something to help her, but his eyes and demeanor was as apathetic as ever. Feeling hurt, she stopped talking. An eerie silence filled the training field. After what seemed to Sakura liked hours, Itachi finally spoke out.

"I don't know if you can get stronger," said Itachi. "But Akatsuki doesn't take anybody in."

Sakura's eyes widened as she tried to wrap her mind around what Itachi had just said. Slowly her face flushed from shock- to happiness.

"Thank you."

Itachi stared impassively at her, then turned around and walked back inside the base. Sakura turned around to face the battered dummies. Smiling to herself, she continued to beat the life out of them.


End file.
